The breathtaking 12-minute panoramic shot that opens The Man from London circles the protagonist, surveys a harbor and a train station, witnesses a shady transaction and murder—and bears the indelible mark of Béla Tarr, the Hungarian director known for his stylistically unique and adventurous films. The story, based upon a novel by popular crime author Georges Simenon (with whom Tarr shares an interest in people’s reactions to their own morally ambiguous actions) follows a railway switchman, Maloin, who finds a suitcase full of money. Cinematographer Fred Kelemen, aided by Mihály Vig’s haunting score, perfectly captures an atmosphere of dread and entrapment amid the falling rain, quiet nighttime streets, and crammed kitchens and bars of a small town. This is the North American premiere of the English-language release version.
Organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film.